The Road to Revolution 1763–1775

1. The Road to Revolution 1763–1775

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3. I. Roots of Revolution • America was a revolutionary force from the day of its discovery by Europeans: • The New World nurtured new ideas about the nature of society, citizens, and government. • Republicanism—defined a just society as one in which all citizens willingly subordinated their private, selfish interests to the common good. • Stability and government depended on the virtue of the citizenry. • Americans had grown accustomed to running their own affairs. • The great distance from Britain weakened royal authority.

4. II. Taxes • After the Seven Years’ War, Britain held one of world’s largest empires and the biggest debt. • It moved to redefine its relationship with the colonies. • 1763: Prime Minister George Grenville ordered the navy to strictly enforce the Navigation Laws.

5. Taxes • 1764: He secured from Parliament the Sugar Act, the first law passed by Parliament to raise revenue for the crown from colonies: • Increased duty on sugar from the West Indies. • After bitter protests, duties were lowered substantially, and agitation died down. • Resentment renewed when the Quartering Act (1765) required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops.

6. Taxes • 1765: Stamp tax was imposed: • It aimed to raise revenue to support the new military force. • It mandated the use of stamped paper or affixing of stamps, certifying tax payment. • Stamps were required on bills of sale for about 50 trade items. • Grenville regarded these measures as reasonable. • People in England paid a higher stamp tax.

7. Taxes • But Americans were angry: • The new law pinched pocketbooks and seemed to strike at local liberties. • Some colonies refused to comply with the Quartering Act; some voted only to supply a fraction of the supplies requested. • The acts also seemed to jeopardize the basic rights of colonists as Englishmen. • Offenders were tried in admiralty courts without juries and “innocent until proven guilty” concept.

8. Taxes • Americans made a distinction between “legislation” and “taxation”: • They conceded the right of Parliament to legislate matters related to the entire empire. • They denied the right of Parliament, in which no Americans were seated, to impose taxes on Americans. • Such taxes were seen as robbery. • Only colonial assemblies could tax colonists.

9. Taxes • Grenville used the theory of “virtual representation”: • All citizens were represented by Parliament. • The dispute eventually caused Americans to: • Deny the authority of Parliament • Consider their own political independence

10. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act • Colonial protest against the hated stamp tax took various forms: • Stamp Act Congress of 1765: • Stated the rights and grievances of colonists • Beseeched the king and Parliament to repeal the repugnant legislation • Was ignored in England • Was a significant step toward intercolonial unity

11. Forced Repeal of the Stamp Act • Nonimportation agreements: • Agreements against importing British goods • Were a promising stride toward union • Helped unite the American people for the first time in common action • Gave Americans new opportunities to participate in colonial protests

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13. III. Repeal of the Stamp Act • Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty: • Took law into their own hands • Cried, “Liberty, Property, and No Stamps” • Shaken by colonial commotion, the machinery for collecting the tax broke down. • By the time the act was to go into effect (1765), all stamp agents had been forced to resign. • The boycott also hurt the English economy. • Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766.

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15. Repeal of the Stamp Act • Parliament then passed the Declaratory Act reaffirming its right “to bind” colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” • The British government defined its constitutional principle: absolute and unqualified sovereignty over the colonies. • The stage was set for continuing confrontation as colonies wanted a measure of their own sovereignty.

16. IV. The Boston “Massacre” • 1767: Townshend Acts: • Imposed a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea • Was an indirect customs duty payable at American ports • Colonists refused any taxes without representation. • They were especially concerned because these taxes would pay salaries of royal governors.

17. The Boston “Massacre” • Nonimportation agreements were renewed against Townshend Acts, but • Colonists took the light new tax less seriously. • They found they could get cheap tea via smuggling. • To enforce order, British then landed two regiments of troops in Boston in 1768. • March 5, 1770: A clash erupted that became known as the Boston Massacre.

18. V. Committees of Correspondence • Parliament eventually repealed most Townshend duties but kept the tax on tea. • But discontent continued because: • British officials increased efforts to enforce the Navigation Laws. • Zealous Samuel Adams continued to incite what was called his “trained mob.” • Adams organized first committees of correspondence in Massachusetts.

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20. Committees of Correspondence • Committees of correspondence: • After one was organized in Boston (1772), some 80 towns set up similar organizations. • They exchanged letters that kept alive opposition to British policy. • They played a key role in stimulating and disseminating sentiment in favor of united action. • They evolved directly into the first American congresses.

21. VI. Tea Party • By 1773, the powerful British East India Company was facing bankruptcy: • It had 17 million pounds of unsold tea. • British ministry awarded it a complete monopoly of the American tea business. • It could sell its tea at a very low price. • But colonists saw this as an attempt to trick them into accepting taxes.

22. Tea Party • British authorities decided to enforce the law: • Colonists rose up in anger. • Mass demonstrations forced tea-bearing ships to return to England with their cargo. • Only in Boston did a British official refuse to be cowed. • Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to budge.

23. Tea Party • Hutchinson infuriated Boston’s radicals when he ordered tea ships not to leave Boston until they had unloaded their cargoes: • December 16, 1773: About 100 Bostonians, loosely disguised as Indians, boarded the ships. • They smashed open 342 chests of tea and dumped the contents into the harbor. • This action became known as the Boston Tea Party.

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25. Tea Party • Reaction varied: • Sympathetic colonists applauded. • Referring to tea as “a badge of slavery,” they burned the hated leaves in solidarity with Boston. • Hutchinson, chastened and disgusted, retreated to Britain, never to return. • The British chose a perilous path that led only to reprisals, bitterness, and escalating conflict.

26. VII. “Intolerable Acts” • Parliament responded with measures in 1774 that brewed a revolution: • It passed a series of acts to chastise colonists, especially in Boston. • The acts were branded in colonies as “the massacre of American Liberty.” • Most drastic was the Boston Port Act: • It closed the port until damages were paid.

27. “Intolerable Acts” • Other Intolerable Acts limited rights traditionally practiced in Massachusetts: • Restrictions were placed on town meetings. • Unlike before, officials who killed colonists in line of duty could now be sent to Britain for trial. • New Quartering Act gave local authorities power to lodge soldiers anywhere, even private homes.

28. VIII. Quebec Act • Quebec Act (1774) covered French subjects in Canada: • It guaranteed their Catholic religion. • They could maintain institutions (which did not include representative assembly or trial by jury). • Québec’s boundaries extended to the Ohio River. • From French viewpoint, the Quebec Act was a shrewd and conciliatory measure.

29. Quebec Act • From American viewpoint, the act was noxious: • It had a much wider range. • It set a dangerous precedent by denying jury trials and by allowing unrepresentative assemblies. • It alarmed land speculators by snatching a huge trans-Allegheny area from their grasp. • It angered anti-Catholics by extending Catholic jurisdiction south into a region about the size of the 13 colonies.

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31. IX. War • First Continental Congress in 1774: • It met in Philadelphia to redress grievances. • 12 of 13 colonies (except Georgia) sent 55 men: S. Adams, J. Adams, G. Washington, P. Henry. • Deliberated for 7 weeks in fall 1774. • Not a legislative but a consultative body. • A convention rather than a congress. • John Adams played a key role. • It drew up a Declaration of Rights as well as a solemn appeal to other British colonies, to the king, and to the British people. • Delegates were not calling for independence.

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33. War • But fatal drift toward war continued: • Parliament rejected Congress’s petitions. • Violators of Association were tarred and feathered. • Muskets were gathered and men began to drill openly. • April 1775: British commander in Boston sent troops to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of gunpowder.

34. War • Troops were also supposed to arrest ringleaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. • At Lexington, “Minute Men” refused to disperse. • Shots were fired, killing 8 Americans and wounding several more. • Redcoats then pushed on to Concord, where they suffered heavy losses. • Britain now had a war on its hands.